Electric-current rectifier.



E. :GARRETSON. ELECTRIC CURRENT RECTIFIER.

APPLICATION rum) SBPT.10,1908.

929,582, Patented July 27,1909.

2.8HEETS-BHEET 1.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR ATTORNEY V W/T/VESSES: lNgE/VTOR @t 3y B. GARRETSON. ELECTRIC CURRENT RECTIFIER, APPLICIATION FILED SEPT. 10, 1908.

929,582,. Patented July 27,1909.

. 2 sums-sum z.

ATTORNEY UXITED STATES OFFICE. EUGENE GARRETSONIOF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR or THREE THIRTY-SECONDS To WILLIAM P. MASHINTER, THREE THIRTY-SECONDS TO CLARENCE s. SIDWAY, THREE THIRTY-SECONDS TO JAMES D. ROBERTSON, AND THREE THIRTY-SECONDS TO WILLIAM E ROBERTSON, ALL OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC-CURRENT RECTIFIER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed September 10, 1908. Serial No. 452,427.

Patented July 27, 1'909.

To all whom itv may concern:

Be it known that I,,EUGENE GARRETSON,

of the city of Buffalo, county of Erie, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and usefulElectric-Current Rectifier, of which the following is a full clear, and ex act description.

that such rectifiers of either ty e are very fragile, of short life and difficu t of operation, thus necessitating the exercise of the skill of a trained engineer to handle them. In producing my invention I have sought to overcome these objections and I have produced a device which is at once simple, portable, ineX ensive and durable, and one Whichcan e operated by any one with average intelligence. Moreover my invention is of comparatively small volume for its caacity and the many advantages resulting rom the use of the same will be clear to those skilled in the art from the following description and accompanying drawings.

Referring to the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a plan view. of an elementary form of my rectifier. Fi 2 is an elevation of the same. Fig. 3 isa p an view of a modh fied elementary form of my rectifier. Fig. 5

.is an elevation of the rectifier shown in Fig. 8. Fig. 4 isa plan view of a still difierent modified form of my rectifier. Fig. 6 is an elevation of the form of rectifier shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 7 shows an application of my rectifier in an electric circuit. Fig. 8 is an elevation of a combination of aseries of my rectifier units. Fig. 9 is a plan view of Fig.

8 looking upwardly from the lower or terminal end.

Referring to the elementary form of my unit as shown in Figs. 1 and 2: 14 represents a plate or film of silver sufid and 15 is a plate contact with each other.

Referring to the modified form of my unit shown in Figs. 3 and 5: 1 6 represents a plate or film'of metal which is in electrical contact with 14 and with the purpose of making better electrical connection therewith and 17 represents a plate or film of metal in electrical contact with 15 used for a like purpose as the metal plate 16.

Referring to the modified unit shown in Figs. 4. and 6: 18 represents a )late of silver or'silver alloy or other metal w llCll has been silver plated uponthe surfaceof which has been formed a plate or film of silver sulfid 14 and 19 represents a plate of metal or alloy upon the surface of which has. been formeda film or plate 15 of metallic oxid or metallic oxids.

In Fig. 7 is shown the application in an electric circuit of the unit illustrated in Figs. 4 and 6. In this figure 24 re resents a battery having terminals 22 an 26 in connection therewith by means of wires 23 and 25. The terminal 26 is connected by means of wire 27 to, the silver plate 18. The other terminal 22 is connected by wire 21 to an electric lamp 10 which in turn is connected by wire 20 to the metallic plate 19.

or film of a metallic oxid or' metallic oxids. These two plates or films are laid in electrical Fi 's. 8 and 9 show a series of units such as are shown in Figs. 3 to 6 preferably circular in form and mechanically united as hereinafter described. When my units are united in series as shown in these figures the silver plate 18 is as shown, preferabl circular and made circumfercntially larger t ran the metal plate 19. It will be noted that the silver plate 18, the sulfid plate or film 14, the me-- tallic oXid plate or film 1.5 and the metallic plate 19 comprise one unit of the series shown. The advantage of having the plate 18 larger than the plate 19 resides in the fact that with this form of construction the units have central perforations through which a hushed bolt 28 passes. The bushing 34 around this belt is made of insulating material. Over the upper end of the bolt 28 is fitted a nut 33 screw-threaded to the bolt and in electric contact with the metallic plate 19"" is a metallic terminal 20 which is insulated from the bolt 28 by'means of the bushing 34 and insulating washer 32. A washer 31 is preferably, placed in contact with the insulating washer 32 and all of the units and the parts above are suitably held in place preferably as shown b means of the nut 30 screwthreaded to the liolt 28. A metallic terminal 27 a is slippedover the bolt 28 and placed below the nut 30 and held in place by means of the nut 29 screw-threaded to the bolt 28.

'Havin thus described the several parts of the met er and shown the application of the same in two different ways, I will now. describe the operation of these two illustrated applications and the principles, as I understand them, on which they work.

Referring first to the application of my units in an electric circuit as shown in Fig. 7: Assumingv that the battery 24 is a suitable source of electric energy, the unit rectifier included in the circuit of this source of energy is so constructed that if from the source of energy positive current fiows through the terminal 26 the unit rectifier will allow the {,passage of such current through it in the following circuit: through wire 27, silver plate 18, silver suliid plate 14, oxidized plate 15, metallic plate 19, wire 20, electric lamp 10, wire 21, negative terminal 22, wire 23, back to the source of energy 24. This current will be sufficient to light the lamp 10 and but a negligible amount of energy will be lost in the circuit described since but slight resistance is afforded to the passage of the current in the direction described from the silver plate 18 to the metallic plate 19. If now we assume that the positive terminal of the source of energy be 22 then but a slight amount of cur-- rent will flow through the circuit already described for the reason that the current when flowing from the metallic plate 19 upwardly to the silver plate 18 will meet with a comparatively high resistance and not'suflicient current will flow through it tolight the lamp 10. It will be clear that the condition of the lamp will thus indicate the polarity of the current flowing through the circuit described.

Referring now to the construction shown in Figs. 8 and 9 we assume that the terminals 20 and 27 are electrically connected in circuit with any suitable source of electric energy and assuming that if the terminal of the said source of energy which-is connected to the terminal 27 a be positive then current will flow throu h the following circuit and will meet with but slight resistance: terminal 27, bolt 28, nut 33, silver plate 18*, sulfid film 14 oxidized film 15, metallic plate 19", thence through the other similar plates of the remaining units of the series of units to the terminal 20 which is connected to the negative pole of the source of energy back to the said source of energy. If, howrent flows through the terminal 27 when it is connected to, the positive pole of the source of energy, it will flow through the circuit described and be sufficient to perform any desired electric function, while if current flows from the positive pole of said source of current first through the said terminal 20 the current flow will be very slight and substantially negligible thusbeing insullicient to actuate an electric device placed in circuit therewith. Clearly then if the said source of energy be an alternating current it will be seen that a path of slight resistance will be afforded for the positive waves while a path of comparatively great resistance will be afforded for the negative waves and therefore the positive waves will predominate in strength and the resulting current flow through the circuit will partake of the characteristics of a positive pulsating or" direct current.

Ihave discovered that when a current is flowing from a body of silver sulfid into certain metallic bodies such as iron or an alloy such as brass or bronze, the surface of which has been oxidized, thejs hid current encounters but little resistance in its path of [low but if the direction of the said current is re' versed a comparatively large resistance is immediately built up in the path of flow. This is in contrast to the usual effect, it being characteristic that when most metallic bodies are arranged as described the amount of current flowing from oneto the other is constant in strength regardless of the direction of flow of said current.

In other current rectifiers it is characteristic that no matter which way the current flow may take place it meets with a comparatively large resistance although such resistances may vary with the direction of iiow and thus the resulting efficiency is comparatively small. In my rectifier, however, the

resistance to the flow in one direction is but a application of my discovery to electric circultswill be clear to those skilled in the art sible to be performed by means of the appli cation of my principle in either of the ways herein shown and described or modifications thereof as applied to electric circuits in general. For example, by the use ofm rectifier, I am able to charge a storage attery connected to a source of alternating current energy or by means of two of my rectifiers the units of which are oppositely disposed and placed in the two branches of a divided circuit I am able to selectively control and perform two opposite functions. in such electric circuit by reversal of the polarity of current.

In my claims I have referred to a body of silver and it is to be understood thatthis phrase refers not only to a metallic body composed entirely of silver but also to any by the body of silver.

equivalents of-such metallic body such as a silver alloy having a sufficient quantity of silver in its composition to perform the functions herein described which are performed Moreover it is 'evident that a silver plated body would likewise perform the same functions as a body of silver' provided the silver plate is sufiiciently heavy to perform the functions herein described -with reference to a body of silver. The scope of my claims is therefore such that either a silyer alley or a silver plated body is to be considered an equivalent of a body of silver.

Obviously my princi le may be applied in a great many specifica y different ways and I do not wish to be limited to the s ecific applications herein shown and descri ed but it will be clearly understood that the method of operation and the functions performed and advantages gained by my invention will vary according to the specific pur ose to which it is applied and still be wit in the spope of my invention and of the appended c aims.

what I claim is:

1. An electric current rectifier comprising a body of silver sulfid and a body of metallic oxid in electricalcontact therewith.

2. An electric current rectifier composed of a body of silver sulfid and a body of metallic oxids in electrical contact therewith.

3. An electric current rectifier composed of a body of silver sulfid a portion of the surface of which is metallic, and a body of metallic oxid a is metallic.

4. An electric current rectifier composed portion of the surface of which of a body of silver sulfid, a portion of the surface of which is metallic, and a body of metallic oxids, a portion of the surface of which is metallic. A

5. An electric current rectifier composed of a body of silver a portion of the surface of which is sulfid, and a body of metal a portion of the surface of which is oxidized, the

oxidized and sulfided portions of the two metallic bodies being in electrical contact with each other.

6. An electric current rectifier composed of a body of silver, a ortion of the surface of which has been sulfi ed, and a body of alloy a portion of the surface of which has been oxidized the oxidized and the sulfided portions of the two bodies being in electrical contact with each other. v

\ 7. An electric current rectifier composed of a series of units and means for uniting said units so as to regulably control the contact pressure between the said seriesof units each unit of said series comprising a body of silver having a portion of its surface sulfided and a metallic body having a .ortion of its surface oxidized, the said sulfi ed and oxidized surfaces being placed in electric contact with each other.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in thepresence of two witnesses.

EUGENE GARRETSON. Witnesses:

ETHEL A. KELLY, J. ELLIS. 

